DAMNED SPRING FRAGRANTIA came into existence in 2006 during the members' high school years in Parma (Italy), starting out primarily as a Metalcore/Deathcore band. The quintet's first few years were spent playing anywhere and everywhere, whilst recording their first two EPs 'Emptiness - Fragments of a Decayed Society' and 'Damned Spring Fragrantia', released in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Both demonstrated the inclusion of more progressive and mathcore elements to the band's sound. By 2012, the band had signed to UK-based Rock and Metal label Basick Records, who went on to release debut full-length, 'Divergences' - a record which was mixed and mastered at Domination Studio (San Marino). During the years that followed, the band focused on promoting the album in Europe and subsequently played several tours, appearing at UK Tech-Fest and supporting some of the most important bands in the scene such as TESSERACT, VEIL OF MAYA, and NORTHLANE. Their new EP "Chasm" is presented here, and contains five tracks.

"Chasm" leads off the album. It has a heavy, Djent type rhythm, where the guitars hit low accents at times and climb scales briefly at others. The vocals are fierce Death screams and the Pro/Core mash is something we've been hearing more and more of lately. Pleasingly, they are also able to work in some melodies here with the guitars. A nice opening track. "Umbra" is about the same length. The intensity is dialed up a bit here but again the guitar work provides a well-rounded presence in the background under the bed of the thick and chunky riffs. The instrumentation reminds me of the heavier side of TESSERACT. "Float" opens with an eerie and dissonant guitar, before diving deep back to that low range and vocal rage, which is all-consuming and relentless.

"Pages" shows some rhythmic dexterity and that broad and husky guitar tone is voluminous, filling in all the empty spaces. There's definitely some math coming into play with the meter and accents, but the vocals are unchanging. Sometimes the intensity is a bit much...a little variation here might go a long way. "Quasar" closes the EP. The dissonant riff is focused more on slaying the listener than exciting his/her senses. In this manner the song is quite cold and sterile, though snippets of melody here and there make it more palatable. Towards the end, the guitars build a creepy sound, which adds another element to the song. Overall, the core of their sound is very evident, and does not variate from track to track. This is probably the weakest part of the EP. But, the musicianship and rhythmic timing is probably its greatest strength.